When your child is sick, you feel powerless. You want to heal your child, but the most you can do is to help the body heal itself. You don’t have true power to heal. Even antibiotics and medicines do not work without the body doing its part. True healing happens without the body’s help. And […]
All Saints’: Matthew 5:1-12
November 6, 2011 by
The kingdom of this world is like a man who goes off to war. He fights for his homeland, but soon his enemies capture him. They strip him and beat him, leaving him half-dead, a prisoner in a large prisoner of war camp, filled with thousand of others. The prison camp is like a small, […]
Reformation Day Sermon: John 8:31-36
October 30, 2011 by
What is this nonsense? How can the Jews who were listening to Jesus say, “We are Abraham’s descendants; we’ve never been slaves of anyone”? Have they never read the Old Testament? Have they never eaten the Passover, which celebrated and remembered God rescuing them from their slavery in Egypt? Even more, look at the time […]
Lorraine Curtis’ Funeral Sermon: Matthew 5:24
October 27, 2011 by
I sometimes wonder if there’s something about Chicago and Northern Illinois that shapes and forms certain personalities. Let me explain. Lorraine had a strong, distinctive personality, similar to some others I’ve met from Chicago. Lorraine wasn’t uncaring by any sort, but she didn’t mince words. She told you what she thought in a way you’d […]
God’s Purpose for Your Life
October 24, 2011 by
Within today’s church, it’s a peculiarity of our self-focused culture and age to wonder “What is God’s purpose for my life?” Now, that’s not a wrong sentiment in itself. But it is seeking something from God with which many Christians did not earlier concern themselves. For long before it became a trend to wonder about […]
St. James of Jerusalem
October 23, 2011 by
It’s a sad fluke of history when we forget the prominent people who shaped their times. It’s even sadder when the Church has succumbed to this failing. But that such a fate should fall on such a first-rank figure of the Apostolic Church is even more worthy of lamentation. James, the stepbrother of Jesus, was […]
Challenges for Lutheranism Today (and so also for the LWML)
October 17, 2011 by
This is the October Bible study for our LWML (Lutheran Women’s Missionary League), which focuses on the challenges that exist for the Lutheran Church today. ———- On September 10, 2011, LC-MS President, Matt Harrison, spoke to the Lutheran Church of Nigeria on this topic: “Lutheranism: Challenges, Problems, and Opportunities.” President Harrison listed five areas of […]
Luke 14:1-14, “Friend, Move Up Higher”
October 16, 2011 by
It’s a dangerous decision to make when planning a wedding reception, to decide who sits where. Some folks will value where you place them to sit, near the bride and groom, near the place of honor. Others will feel insulted, having to sit too far way from where they think they belong. But if you […]
The Mystical Union: Ephesians 3:16-19
October 9, 2011 by
We, as a nation, are adrift, confused and unsure. We fill our lives with noise and motion, through which we mask the haunting silence of not being able to answer this question: “What is the meaning of my life?” What about you? What is your purpose? Why you are here, at this place and time? […]
How to Seek God’s Kingdom and His Righteousness: Matthew 6:24-34
October 2, 2011 by
If a father loves fishing, he teaches his son how to fish. If a mother loves quilting, she teaches her daughter how to quilt. What you love, you talk about and do. That’s just obvious. What you love, you pass on to your children, because you love them. You want them to love what you […]
